http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/24/how-the-gadget-show-built-its-fps-simulator-video/

So they spent $600k on this? Seems like an awful lot, must've been that omni-directional treadmill.

That said, I need to have one.

Hardware:
5 Projectors @ 720p = <$5k
Geodesic Dome Screen=?
Kinect = $120
Omnidirectional treadmill=?
Paintball guns + image controller = <$800 (12 guns is a bit overkill)
Ambient LED lighting + controller = scalable $300+ (if you even want it to begin with)

And I have to believe you can find a better gun solution than what they were using.

OMG that is awesome!

I would find a way to use airsoft guns for the base for your controller, maybe with some wireless switches built into it?? I would use airsoft for the feedback guns as well so you don't mark up your screens with the rounds that don't hit you.

Dud

A few thoughts:

The whole colored ambient LED lighting thing doesn't really do anything for me. If I were to build something like this, the LEDs would come last, if at all.

Also, while it is a really neat idea, I'd also do without the paintball markers. If I were doing it as an actual training sim I'd totally throw it in, but just for my own enjoyment I'd leave it out.

The actual tracking of the gun was pretty neat, but using an iPhone as the mouse was unnecessary. I would stick the tracking they're using on an airsoft gun and shove a bluetooth mouse inside it, wiring left click to the trigger, and perhaps a pressure switch on the gunstock as right click to register looking down the sights when you actually shoulder your weapon. Although I'd have my weapon constantly shouldered, so that might not be the best solution. Maybe a non-working rail mounted light with the momentary ON switch as right click.

If you didn't want to do the whole 360 degree surround thing, you could use a Wii remote as the controller and one or two projectors. The problem with the Wiimote, however, is accuracy. It doesn't translate into 1:1 when you're aiming at the screen.

If you went with a rear projection and put a TrackIR just in front of the screen with the clip attached to the gun, that might work too.

Thinking about it a bit more, for the best experience you would need to track the gun in 3D space and have the actual display move with where you're aiming.

A better solution would be to track both head and gun. So the view moves to where you're looking and the reticle moves to where the gun is aimed.

My biggest issue with builds like this and the reason I've never pursued one is that the aiming never translates to 1:1. With everything I've seen, you're always going to get the issue like with the TrackIR where when your head is pointed one way, your eyes are always somewhere else. Even with the Gadget Show's build, when you aim up, the display doesn't move up, the view does, leaving you pointing your gun in the air while looking straight forward. For me, for full immersion, I need 1:1 aiming.

Overall, it's a brilliant build. The treadmill is really what ties the whole thing together. Using the Kinect is also a smart move. But the gun needs refining, as does the aiming system.

Another issue I see with it is the sound system. Speakers are static. They stay in one place while you would be moving around. This creates an issue with the directional sounds. When you start off facing the front of the screen, the speakers are oriented correctly and when you hear shots coming from the left, you turn to your left and can see where the shots are coming from. However, when you turn around and are facing the back of the screen, when shots are coming from your left in-game, they'll be coming out of the speaker to your right. Wireless directional headphones would solve this, but with paintball markers shooting rubber balls at you all the time, I'm not sure you'd want to risk a nice pair getting shot up.

given what they spended they could have used a custom built full hd HMD

Just got an email from MSE Weibull:

Thanks for your request regarding the ODF
Please excuse the delay in replying to you. Last period have been quite busy as you might imagine.

This will for sure create a truly unique arcade experience.

I assume you have seen the full Gadget show now available on the Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8Bh5iI2WY
As you can see from the comments there is big audience out there waiting for this. You are on the right track.

The gadget show setup was made by the TV team but we have the full Virtual Theater in our range as an integrated unit. All based on the ODF
MSE produces the hardware platform. Then we integrate virtually any game or simulator. Or provide the platform to any other integrator.
Whet was showed at the Gadget show was what we would call a “light” version. We are able to provide even much higher degrees of immersion and reality.

Our standard omni-directional floor has an active area which is 4 meters in diameter. This could be bigger or smaller if needed. The floor is designed in a modular way to facilitate such variations.
We supply the floor as a component, or as a subsystem in a complete Virtual Theatre, including simulation effects and much more.

A basic system includes the following:
- Omni-directional floor
- Tracking system (to decide the position of the user and calculate the speed of the floor)
- Control system

Optional add-ons to build a complete Virtual Theatre: (Not part of the Gadget show setup)
- Visual system
- Motion tracking
o Complete body tracking
o Hand tracking
- Effects, as
o Sound
o Smoke and smell
o Thermo
· Wind

· Ambient lightning

· Shoot-back

· Etc.


The basic platform with tracking and controls is about EUR 110 000.


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110k? Way more than I was expecting. We'll have to revisit in a couple years and see if their economy of scale has brought that price down.

!!! I hope the refill cartridges for this are cheap. Gonna be running low on the smell of blood, gunpowder and fear real quick.

But yeah, 110K seems a bit much. I wonder how much it would cost to build the omni-treadmill yourself? The static hardware is the easy part. I can figure that in my head. Getting the treadmill to move based on where you are standing on it is the hard part. You could probably hack a few arduinos to translate the tracking system into the proper movements for the motors for the treadmill. That shouldn't be too hard. But I don't really know how to track the movement. A configuration of high intensity IR LEDs aimed at a camera above you with some custom software interpreting their positions maybe?

Here's some shots of the treadmill setup pulled from youtube:





















This thread just became image heavy.

Looks like 16 individual treadmills, so 16 motors and a controller. Then you just layer Gravity Conveyor Rollers on top with enough friction so that the belts move them. Infrared camera tracks an infrared light on your helmet, and compares each frame to determine movement and directional speed.


This really doesn't seem all that difficult.

Looks like just 1 motor (blue unit in photo 8) connected to the gearing (white unit in photo 8) moving all treadmills by connection rods (image 4).

Yeah you're right, I wasn't looking at the gear. Well, that makes controlling it that much easier. What could we find to provide an off the shelf solution to the gearing?